The system for real-time monitoring of the Black Sea was awarded in the thirteenth edition of the “IT Project of the Year”.

Sofia, 22 February 2017 – Yesterday during an official ceremony in Sofia Hotel Balkan the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company received a special prize in the “IT Project of the Year” contest for the implementation of the first of its kind in Bulgaria information system for real-time monitoring of the Black Sea (MIS of the Black Sea).

The award “Special Contribution to the Development of Modern Ecological Technology” was given to Mr. Angel Zaburtov, General Director of BPI Co.

This is the second award for the project since last year it was awarded for a “Strategic vision for the application of GIS in the development of monitoring system of the Black Sea in real time” during the 18th World GIS Day in Bulgaria.

The integrated system MIS of the Black Sea is developed within the project “Monitoring and Information System of the Black Sea” (KNRIN – 2014/108164 Norway Grants 2009-2014 Monitoring and information System for the Black Sea). The project is an initiative of the BPI Co. and the Norwegian Coastal Administration (KEYSTVERKET) and follows the successful model of the “Barents Watch” system.

MIS of the Black Sea is realized by the Consortium “STEMO - ESRI” as a web Geoportal with numerous specialized public GIS applications and back-office GIS with controlled access. MISBS provides a powerful functionality for integration, processing, analysis and visualization of information and real-time exchange of data with internal and external systems. It integrates data in real time for various parameters of the environment, marine and coastal areas, ports infrastructure, etc. The system, for example, gathers, processes and visualizes information in real time from the “Monitoring system for environmental assessment of Port of Bourgas marine region” and the delivered as part of the project “Monitoring system for assessment of the marine water and air quality in Port of Varna region”. MISBS also gathers data via satellites from the European Union (EU) System for Marine Monitoring “Copernicus” and integrates data from the existing information systems of the BPI Co., as well as from third-party organizations such as the National Institut of Meteorology and Hydrology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NIMH-BAS).

The implementation of the system supports the sustainable development and protection of the Black Sea and facilitates the Bulgarian authorities` planning and management activities in this area. With the implementation of the project, BPI Co. makes a big step towards establishing a common spatial infrastructure of the Black Sea and puts into practice the EU Integrated Maritime Policy and Surveillance for sharing and exchanging data for the marine environment and integrated inspection of the marine basins.

More than 20 projects participated in the prestigious competition “IT Project of the Year” this year, organized by Computerworld Bulgaria and DSK Bank.

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